Chen Chen sat in the Jeep Wrangler and quietly looked out the window.
On the horizon, four huge chimneys could be seen silently towering above the horizon like pillars of heaven.
However, Chen Chen knew that these were not chimneys but cooling towers of a nuclear power plant.
Logically, a nuclear power plant built by the sea would not need cooling towers. Instead, it would use a direct cooling method by directly extracting seawater for cooling, then discharging the seawater which had absorbed the heat back into the ocean.
After all, the ocean itself had a massive volume of water. The water quality and temperature would not change just because of a small amount of discharge. Thus, this would save costs.
This was why most nuclear power plants were planned to be built by the sea.
As for these cooling towers, they were the result of a compromise. Chen Chen and the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Namibia had reached an agreement that, to prevent accidents at the nuclear power plant, Blacklight Biotechnology’s nuclear power plant would have two heat dissipation systems, namely, direct cooling using seawater and cooling through condensation towers.
Currently, Chen Chen was rushing toward the completed nuclear power plant.
After eighteen months of construction, the Blacklight Nuclear Power Plant had finally reached completion and ready to begin its trial operation.
On both sides of the road, there were high-voltage transmission towers every hundred meters. These thirty-meter-tall iron towers extended all the way from the nuclear power plant to the Eco Science City, then continued toward Walvis Bay, Swakopmund, and coastal towns such as Wlotzkasbaken. These towers formed a unique thread that ran throughout the landscape of the African wilderness.
Once the nuclear power plant started to generate electricity, it would be able to transmit this electricity to thousands of households.
The road used for construction, which was once extremely busy, was now completely deserted after the completion of the nuclear power plant. After all, the road ended at the Blacklight Nuclear Power Plant. No one would set foot here except for the employees of Blacklight Biotechnology and tourists.
As they got closer to the four cooling towers that were like pillars of heaven, Chen Chen gradually saw the gate of the nuclear power plant. At this time, a big red banner had been hung over the gate of the nuclear power plant. Upon it, in white font, were the words “Celebrating the official completion of the Blacklight Biotechnology Nuclear Power Plant in Namibia”.
At the gate, the leaders of the engineering team were waiting outside, ready to welcome Chen Chen.
A high-level big shot from China National Nuclear Corporation had arrived for the launch of the trial operation.
After Chen Chen’s motorcade stopped before the gate, Chen Chen slowly got out of the car. At the gate, the group from the engineering team came up to him.
“Boss Chen, congratulations!”
As soon as Chen Chen got off the car, before he had even found his footing, the bald Chinese man at their head was already approaching while enthusiastically stretching out both hands. “Boss Chen, congratulations on the completion of your nuclear power plant!”
“Not at all. I wouldn’t have been able to build this nuclear power plant without your help, Director Wang, and your construction team.”
Chen Chen flashed a bright wide smile. “I should be thanking you.”
“Hahaha, then let’s thank and congratulate each other!” The bald man tossed his head up and guffawed.
As the two of them talked, several reporters next to them kept taking photos as their cameras clicked incessantly. Chen Chen glanced at them. The tags of these reporters all bore the letters “CCTV”.
“Come, come, I won’t babble on any longer. Let me bring you around the internal facilities of the nuclear power plant.”
The bald man led the way enthusiastically. “Also, at twelve noon, we’ll perform the ceremony of filling the nuclear fuel rods and officially begin the trial operation!”
“I’ll leave that to you then, Director Wang.”
Chen Chen nodded his thanks. He walked into the nuclear power plant, followed by the clicking sounds of cameras.
“The Blacklight Nuclear Power Plant covers an area of fifteen square kilometers, of which the length is five kilometers and the width is three kilometers. It consists of 42 large and small buildings including the five zones: the nuclear island, routine areas, supporting facilities, safety measures for the nuclear power plant, and the living area.”
As they walked, the bald man pointed things out to Chen Chen and explained, “Look, the largest building before us is the living area. The living area has a dedicated staff dormitory as well as a canteen and a recreation area. With this, you can have five thousand employees working and living here…
“This huge building built by the sea, half of which extends into the seawater, is the safety area of the nuclear power plant. It can facilitate heat exchange between seawater and boiling water at a rate of more than 100 cubic meters per second, thus bringing down the excess temperature.”
Chen Chen nodded.
Seawater, despite being full of impurities, could be directly used to dissipate heat because the seawater was not involved in any operation regarding power generation. Instead, it was circulated in the pipeline as a type of coolant.
The power generation principle of this nuclear power plant built by Chen Chen was that the nuclear fission would generate heat energy, after which pressurized water would transfer the heat energy out. After that, the generator would generate steam to rotate the steam turbines and generate electricity.
The water vapor that drove the steam turbine to rotate would then come into contact with these pipes filled with seawater. When it was abruptly cooled, it would condense and become pure water again, then return to the nuclear reactor for cyclic heating.
Therefore, the seawater did not need to participate in any power generation operations, only serving as a coolant for the water vapor, without causing any pollution.
“Look, this is the core of the nuclear power plant — the nuclear island area.”
After the bald man’s explanations that lasted throughout the journey, he finally led Chen Chen into the core building complex of the nuclear power plant.
As the name suggested, the nuclear island was like a building similar to an island. Chen Chen followed Director Wang into the building, turned around various corners, and reached the second floor, where they entered the observation room of the nuclear reactor.
The nuclear power plant built by Chen Chen contained two nuclear reactors. At this moment, this was the observation and control room for nuclear reactor No. 1.
In the observation control room, presently, there were already more than a dozen staff members sitting in front of the controls. At the front of the observation room was a massive window wall about five meters long and three meters high.
“These floor-to-ceiling windows are made of the international standard, ZF6-grade heavy protective lead glass,” the bald man said as he pointed to the glass window. “The walls also have lead compartments. You don’t have to worry about any radiation as you stand here.”
Chen Chen looked through the window and immediately saw a huge tower-shaped machine installation behind the glass. Dozens of workers in nuclear protective suits were ceaselessly examining and tweaking the equipment, looking extremely busy.
“The people inside are counting the nuclear fuel rods.”
The bald man explained, “The pressurized water reactors in Mainland China have always used uranium dioxide. The uranium dioxide is packed in a zirconium tube with a diameter of only one centimeter to make a 4-meter-long fuel rod.”
Chen Chen smiled. “I know all about this. 312 fuel rods make up one fuel rod assembly.”
“Yes, this nuclear reactor divides the nuclear fuel rods into 3 batches and each batch is replaced after 12 months.”
The bald man explained. After that, he looked at the time and changed the subject. “Boss Chen, it’s almost noon now. Should we have lunch in the cafeteria first or install the nuclear fuel rods and begin the trial operation?”
“Let’s just begin now.” Chen Chen nodded after some thought.
“Okay, let’s start then!”
After Chen Chen gave his order, the operator in the control room instantly relayed the order to those at the reactor. A few employees, using crane-like operating machines, lifted bundles of four-meter-long fuel rods and placed them into the nuclear reactor.